# Cuban Cigars in Jamaica



## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

This is my first post in this section so hope I'm ok to post the question here. Still fairly new to cigars (less than a year) but really enjoying the hobby. However, I have never had a Cuban before. Wife and I are going to Jamaica soon for a getaway and from what little research I've done, there seems to be CCs there. Would like to try one but have heard fakes are around quite a bit as well. Any advice on how to not get fooled and know it's a real one? Kind(s) to try ? Where to go, if anyone knows of a place there? Thanks in advance. Any and all input and advice is welcomed.


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## Scap (Nov 27, 2012)

Don't trust anything not sold by an LCDH shop.
And even then I don't know if I'd trust them...

Gotta exercise caution anywhere that caters to the American tourists because the shops know we are typically an easy mark.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

TX Cigar said:


> This is my first post in this section so hope I'm ok to post the question here. Still fairly new to cigars (less than a year) but really enjoying the hobby. However, I have never had a Cuban before. Wife and I are going to Jamaica soon for a getaway and from what little research I've done, there seems to be CCs there. Would like to try one but have heard fakes are around quite a bit as well. Any advice on how to not get fooled and know it's a real one? Kind(s) to try ? Where to go, if anyone knows of a place there? Thanks in advance. Any and all input and advice is welcomed.


Better to bring you own.
Besides Local Jamaican made cigars, Blue Mountain coffee are special.
Enjoy your trip.:vs_cool:


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## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

Where in Jamaica are you staying?


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## Gummy Jones (Mar 30, 2017)

i bought some fake cohibas in jamaica once that i knew were "fake" but hoped they were grey market

they were actually pretty good and tasted cuban so maybe a mix of short filler trimmings and whatever else was on the floor

at least thats what i like to tell myself


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## Ranger0282 (Mar 12, 2016)

My Father -In-Law went on a cruise that stopped in Jamaica. He brought me back 2 Cohibas he bought from a cigar shop there. He was SO PROUD of what he had done for me. This was Pre-Puff forum for me so I was equally as proud. I saved them for a special occasion and couldn't hardly wait to fire that puppy up. If I had gone out my front door and got a dry maple stick off the ground, rolled it in a blunt wrapper from the local 7-11, it would have been twice as good. Stupid me tried smoking the second one as well hoping for a better result. I am sure everyone has heard what the definition of insanity is........
My opinion is to take the suggestions everyone here will give you and ONLY buy from a LCDH shop. 



P.S Still taking bets on the Falcons......GO FALCONS!!!!!


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## Wheels Up (Jun 13, 2019)

I've not been to Jamaica, so I can't comment on exactly what the market is like there. I do frequently find myself in other tourist hot-spots in Central America and the Caribbean, and I've had good luck with finding authentic Cuban cigars in most of those places. I suspect that the touristy areas of Jamaica would be similar to touristy areas around the rest of the Caribbean. The good news is that authentic Cuban cigars can be found all around the Caribbean, you just need to know what you are looking for. Don't just go blindly into the first cigar shop you see and hope for the best or you will almost certainly get the "Dumb American Tourist" treatment, with terrible fakes as a souvenir.

Your mileage may vary, but here's what I do:
- Assume anyone walking up and down the beach or selling out of a backpack has only fakes. I've talked with a few just for entertainment, and I've not found one yet that had real Cuban cigars. But they all swear they do and some can be rather offended when you don't buy their junk after taking a single minute of their time.
- Assume that every variety pack you see is a variety of fakes. Probably bad ones.
- Assume that everybody with a folding table near the port or open-air market has only fakes, with one exception. I have seen a few times where someone was setup on the street or an open-air market, rolling cigars right in front of you. They won't be trying to pass them off as Cuban cigars, they'll just be selling hand-rolled cigars. I've bought from them on a few occasions and some of them have been pretty good. Not necessarily better than the six million other NC smokes readily available in the US, but they're at least fun to watch and talk to.
- Pick a couple of Cuban marcas that you like (or want to try). Unless you want to take a binder full of notes with you, don't try to get "one of each."
- Know what the boxes for the marcas you want to buy should look like. Most of the cigar shops I've bought from have been friendly and relatively well-stocked with full boxes on shelves somewhere, and of course singles have usually been in open boxes on shelves so you can see what they came out of.
- Know what the band should look like for the marcas you want. A real Cohiba band is pretty difficult to fake, and a fake is easy to spot if you know what makes a real Cohiba band a real Cohiba band. (I mention Cohiba specifically just because it is the one marca I see faked more than any other) To me, fake Romeo y Julieta and fake Cohiba bands are easy to spot, but only because I know what I'm looking for and I've bought them for years. I have a harder time with other marcas... some because they are easier to fake, and some simply because I'm not in the habit of seeking them out in questionable spots.
- Make sure you know what the authentic Cuban cigar should look like even without the band because it is not unheard of to see real bands reused on counterfeit cigars. Specifically pay attention to the cap and head. There's a good article by Cigar Aficionado on how to spot a fake Cuban that's a good starting point.
- Know which vitola and wrappers are actually available in whatever marca you're looking for. If you find a "Limited Edicion" RyJ maduro perfecto, you've found something too good to be true.


- On the other side, don't let slight variances between cigars throw you off. My experience has been that even when buying from a reputable source where I know without doubt that I'm buying authentic Cuban cigars, there can be a variance of wrapper shades and construction quality. If you take a look at the picture I've attached, one might think that the difference in wrapper shades would prove that they are knock-offs. However, I personally pulled all but one of these RyJ cigars from boxes at a factory in Havana and I'm certain that they are the real thing... even the Cohiba with a wonky head.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!


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## s1n3 n0m1n3 (Jun 20, 2019)

@Wheels Up

How are those Cohiba Maduro's? I've read mixed reviews, but I trust your judgment. I've been on the fence about picking up a box or two.


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## Wheels Up (Jun 13, 2019)

s1n3 n0m1n3 said:


> @Wheels Up
> 
> How are those Cohiba Maduro's? I've read mixed reviews, but I trust your judgment. I've been on the fence about picking up a box or two.


I've had about a half dozen, and I'm not sure I'll buy any more of them. They're a decent cigar, but in my opinion, not worth the price unless you find someone just trying to clear them out. I think I paid the equivalent of about $12-$14 each for them, and I would probably spend that same money on three times the number of RyJ Coronas if I were there again. However, it could also be that they need more rest than I've been giving them. Fresh from the factory, they were wet, plugged, nearly impossible to burn, and just generally muddy flavors. (Actually, all of the cigars I got from the factory on that trip needed a month or two of rest before they wanted to burn, but that's a side point...) They've improved with rest, but not as much as I had hoped. The last one I smoked had a year of rest on it and it was enjoyable, but the price doesn't reflect the flavor in my opinion. It's a cigar with the price of an Anejo that left me with a feeling of "Hey, at least the hologram on the band looks cool." I have this single survivor still, and I'm planning to let it rest for another year or so before I fire it up.

If you buy a box or two, you may find you like them more than I do, or you may find that giving them several years' rest is the ticket. Maybe find a 5er somewhere and give them a shot before you buy two boxes?

It may just be me, but the very few Cuban maduros I've had were not anything like what I've come to expect from a non-Cuban maduro. I find that I prefer the lighter wrappers on Cubans even though I tend to gravitate toward the darker wrappers in NC sticks.


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## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

@bpegler - staying at Secret Wild Orchid this time. Stayed at Hilton Rose Hall last time. Thanks for all the info from everyone. Will explore and see what I can find. Since I've never had one I'm not sure I'd know authentic vs fake but I'll give it a shot. Thanks again.


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## bpegler (Mar 30, 2006)

TX Cigar said:


> @bpegler - staying at Secret Wild Orchid this time. Stayed at Hilton Rose Hall last time. Thanks for all the info from everyone. Will explore and see what I can find. Since I've never had one I'm not sure I'd know authentic vs fake but I'll give it a shot. Thanks again.


There is a LCdH in the Half Bay resort at Rose Hall. All of their cigars will be authentic.

LCdH is "La Casa del Habano".

The prices will be quite expensive, unfortunately.


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## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

Gotcha. Thanks again. Figure I will spend the money, at least once, just to say I did.


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## haegejc (Oct 2, 2018)

TX Cigar said:


> @bpegler - staying at Secret Wild Orchid this time. Stayed at Hilton Rose Hall last time. Thanks for all the info from everyone. Will explore and see what I can find. Since I've never had one I'm not sure I'd know authentic vs fake but I'll give it a shot. Thanks again.


 @TX Cigar, you will have to let me know how you liked Secret Wild Orchid, we have been looking at that resort for a future trip. We have stayed at the Secrets Puerto Los Cabos several times and loved it. They let me smoke pool side!!!


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## Mich_smoker (Feb 6, 2019)

Ya Mon! I hope you have a great trip.

I HIGHLY recommend the the club Mobay VIP if you haven't heard of it. They have their own customs line for just their customers and a nice lounge with food and drinks (included) in the airport.
this is especially good if your travel day is Saturday when things are crazy. If I remember it was $90 PP for both arrival and departure together? most of the travel sites only offer the departure service, but you can contact Mobay directly and get both, saves ALOT of time waiting in long lines.

I bought 5 pack of siglo I in the duty free (MBJ) in 2017 on the return home, I figured that the duty free would be legit, right?
I don't know anything about CC's but after reading here about what to look for on the band, I'm pretty sure I was had (the taino head is misaligned and the squares are cut off).
@haegejc Jamaica passed a no public smoking (tobacco) law a few years back, last time I went went they had designated smoking areas and you couldn't smoke on the beach.
I've read some resorts enforce the policy more than others, I used the designated areas and met some really cool people as we sat around.


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## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

@ mich - thanks for info. Will definitely try that out. @ Haegejc- will surely let you know. We go next month.


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## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

Update: first night in Jamaica. Having this one with a scotch. Pretty good. I'm not very good at picking up specific flavors so not 1000% different for me from non cubans but little different for sure. For some reason biggest difference is taste on my lips more so than retrohale. Picked out a few more and couple jamaicans and brought some non cubans with me so will be smoking alot next 4 days. By the way, hope it's real. Decent selection at resort.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

Enjoy!:vs_cool:


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## TX Cigar (Mar 6, 2019)

After my intro into Cubans in Jamaica, Haegejc was so very generous to help me out with some options to explore. Can't thank you enough good sir. Can't wait to try them. Something tells me I'll be posting on this side more and more. Thanks again.


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## UBC03 (Nov 18, 2015)

TX Cigar said:


> After my intro into Cubans in Jamaica, Haegejc was so very generous to help me out with some options to explore. Can't thank you enough good sir. Can't wait to try them. Something tells me I'll be posting on this side more and more. Thanks again.


I'd like to say it's a better class of people over here, but I'd be lyin.. lol

Look forward to you bein a regular over here.

Sent from. .. inside your house... bwahaha


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